Upgrades to Central Hudson’s billing system have resulted in some customers being overbilled, underbilled or, in a number of cases, not billed at all.
Many customers have not received a bill for several months. Others have had their accounts charged for astronomical electric usage, while still others say their accounts show no electric usage at all for the past several months.
And in some cases, Central Hudson customers who are enrolled in automatic payment plans have had unusually large and unexpected amounts withdrawn from their bank accounts.
Many customers who have called Central Hudson for assistance have experienced extended hold times.
The Poughkeepsie-based utility, which provides electricity to roughly 310,000 customers in some or all of eight Hudson Valley counties, said it’s aware of the billing problems and is working to get them resolved.
Central Hudson spokesman Joe Jenkins said some of the problems were anticipated as the company moves from what he called the “legacy system” to one that will better accommodate all the billing complexities of the diverse supply chain. The company did not, however, anticipate the extent of the problems its customers would experience, and it initially was unable to handle the call volume.
“What customers are seeing now are the challenges that are being associated with replacing a system of this scale,” Jenkins said.
The spokesman said the billing problems are, for the most part, affecting customers who have solar panels or who purchase their electricity through a community solar program. He said roughly 11,000 Central Hudson electricity customers, or about 3.5% of the total, are experiencing billing problems.
The problems began to surface in September, shortly after Central Hudson began implementing its new billing system.
Jenkins said in anticipation of the changeover and the potential for extended telephone hold times, the utility began reaching out to customers in August, sending emails and letters, posting on social media, contacting elected officials in the communities that are served by the utility, and hosting in-person events, including one at the Dutchess County Fair. Still, he conceded, many of the affected customers might not have received the notifications, leaving them in the dark about what was happening or what could happen.
Jenkins said the utility has doubled the size of its call center staff in order to better accommodate customers.
“We really are making every effort to reduce those hold times and do better,” he said. “Our customers deserve a much higher level of service.”
James Denn, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Service, which oversees utilities in New York, said it is aware of the problems Central Hudson customers are experiencing and is monitoring the situation.
Denn also said Central Hudson “has suspended late-payment charges and is not disconnecting customers for nonpayment” while the billing problems still exist.
Jenkins said the utility is working daily to fix the problems and hopes to have all issues related to the new system resolved by early 2022. In the meantime, he said, customers should not be concerned about receiving a shut-off notice or astronomical bill, or seeing late fees applied to their accounts. He said the utility expects to work with each affected customer individually to work out a payment plan that will accommodate the customer’s needs and will waive all late fees for the duration of that repayment period.
He said customers who haven’t received a bill or who have received bills that seem out of the ordinary should contact the utility at (845) 452-2700 or via the website cenhud.com.
